Angel
by WeyrwomanAnna
Summary: Songfic, Angel by Sarah McLachlan. When Kagome is tired and depressed, she leaves for home for the night. InuYasha, worried and confused, follows.


This just popped into my head while I was listening to this song. I thought it out while I was at school.

Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own InuYasha or any of the characters, or the song Angel by Sarah McLachlan.

_**Lyrics are in italics and bold**_

_'These are thoughts'_

Kagome was tired. She sat in front of the campfire, staring listlessly towards it, ignoring the fish that was her dinner. They were close to the well--less than a day's travel, in fact, they had left Kaede's hut just a couple hours before. Why they had left so close to sunset was beyond her. After all she was just a shard detector, wasn't she? She sighed deeply.

_**Spend all your time waiting**_

_**For that second chance**_

_**For a break that would make it okay**_

_**There's always some reason**_

_**To feel not good enough**_

_**And it's hard at the end of the day**_

"InuYasha?"

Across the fire, a pair of dog ears perked up.

"What?"

She looked up for a moment.

"Can you take me to the well?"

"Keh, wench, you were just there this morning! Why do you need to go back now?!"

She looked back down.

"I'm tired...I just wanna go sleep in my own room for once."

InuYasha looked startled that she wasn't yelling at him for calling her a wench. He stood up.

"Keh, fine. I'll take you. But it's for tonight only, got it?!"

"...Yeah."

Kagome said good night to Sango, Shippo and Miroku before climbing onto InuYasha's back for the ride.

Half an hour later, they stood outside the well. She silently blessed his hanyou speed as she waved goodbye and jumped into the well. InuYasha stood there for a few minutes, wondering why Kagome had been acting so weirdly. Her scent had decidedly shifted as the day had gone on, becoming steadily more saturated with the scent of sadness. He wanted to know why, but didn't want to risk dying if she caught him following. She'd sit him into next week...

Kagome sighed as she climbed up over the edge of the well. She walked into her house quietly, before shouting out her presence.

"Mama, Souta, Grandpa! I'm home for the night!"

When no one answered, she walked to the kitchen table and picked up the note she knew would be there. Reading it, she allowed herself a small smile. At least she would be alone to think tonight. Souta was in a soccer game in another town, and Grandpa and Mama were with him.

She moved upstairs to her room, sitting down on her bed, leaving the light off. She stared at the dark ceiling, thinking about her life.

_'This room...this house. it doesn't even feel like home anymore. It feels more like a hotel where I can spend a night free of worry. I wish it didn't...I wish the Fuedal Era didn't feel so much like home. It's depressing. I have to live in this era...but it's not home. Home to me is...home is...'_

"Home is...where InuYasha is, to me..." She whispered into the dark.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. It just served to make her more depressed.

_'InuYasha doesn't like me. I'm just his shard detector. He's made that abundantly clear on multiple occasions. But still...I feel empty, lost without him. Like a little puppy, alone...'_

_**In the arms of the angel**_

_**Fly away from here**_

_**From this dark, cold hotel room**_

_**And the emptiness that you fear**_

_**You are pulled from the wreckage**_

_**Of your silent reverie**_

_**You're in the arms of the angel**_

_**May you find some comfort here**_

Unknown to her, InuYasha sat crouched on the ground underneath her window. Half stunned, his ears were tilted forward, trying to catch more of Kagome's voice. When all he heard was even breathing, he took a chance and leapt up to her window ledge, thinking she was asleep.

She wasn't. But she didn't notice him, a mere shadow blocking the light of the newly crescent moon and the stars.

Her litany continued in her head.

_'I'm so tired of this stupid shard hunt. It's like all he does is think in a straight line...and then there is the demons, trying to steal what we've found. It's like we're caught in a whirlpool, sucing us down. gain a shard, lose one of the unfound ones. We'll never collect them all...But I have to believe we will. I have to be strong so we can make it out alive. Sometimes...sometimes when I think about after...I think that maybe, just maybe, InuYasha would be with me...'_

She shook her head, laughing quietly. Whispered into the dark again.

"A dream. A dream. InuYasha would never...not when he has Kikyou..."

But still, the beautiful fantasy in her mind played.

_A small house, a few small children running around, with dog ears. _She smiled. _InuYasha, looking at me, with a small on his face, a laugh rippling out as one of the children tackled him. Him falling, wrestling and playing with his child, as she looked on, laughing._

_'But it doesn't make a difference, this dream, does it? It's just a happy non-reality...'_

A few tears slid down her face, as she surrendered, and believed, at least for a few seconds, that her dreams would come true.

_**So tired of the straight line**_

_**And every where you turn**_

_**There's vultures and thieves at your back**_

_**The storm keeps on twisting**_

_**Keep on building the lies**_

_**That you make up for all that you lack**_

_**It don't make no difference**_

_**Escaping one last time**_

_**It's easier to believe**_

_**In this sweet madness**_

_**Oh this glorious sadness**_

_**That brings me to my knees**_

InuYasha's ears were flattened against his head as the tang of tears hit his nose. What did she mean he would never...never what? And why did she mention Kikyou? He slid down from the window ledge and crept silently until he stood over her. Her eyes were closed, and a few stray tears leaked out the corners of her eyes. He reahed down cautiously to wipe away the tears still trailing down her cheeks.

Startled, she opened her eyes.

"Inu..InuYasha?"

"Why are you crying, Kagome?"

She turned her head away.

"Why should you care?! I'm only your shard detector!"

He took a half step back, startled by her reaction. His ears flattened further against his head.

"Damnit, Kagome, that was months ago! You're...you're so much mroe than a detector. You...I can't put what you are into words. You're kind and...damnit Kagome! I can't believe you still think that!" He yelled.

"You've never told me anything different, so how should I know!?"

She was right, as much as it pained to admit it, even to himself. Knowing this could easily be his last act in this life, he leaned forward and grabbed her into a tight hug. She stiffened, and he closed his eyes, ready for the sitting of his life. But then she relaed into his hug. He could smell tears again. Hugging her tighter for a moment, he let go and looked her in the eyes.

"Kagome...you're one of the first people who accepted me as in, and didn't try to change me. Hell, you even told me you loved me as a half demon! Not even Kikyou said that to me...I know now I don't love Kikyou...I've known for a while. Ever since Kaguya, maybe even before when I tried to trap you on this side of the well for your own safety. Kagome..." He paused for a moment. Funny how demons couldn't scare him, but these three words could. Taking a deep breath, he continued.

"I think...I think I love you Kagome." A small gasp was heard. "It makes me jealous to see you talking to Kouga, you know that? That stupid Hobo guy, or whatever his name is, I'm jealous of him, too, and how he might take you away from me. I'm just a stupid, worthless hanyou, not worth your time...but I still think I love you."

He pulled her back into the hug, a tear escaping from his eye, as he waited for her to reject him. He knew it was coming...he knew...

"InuYasha..."

He pulled her tighter, not wanting this moment to end when she told him...

"InuYasha..."

Another tear escaped.

"I think...I think...no, I know I love you too."

_**In the arms of the angel**_

_**Fly away from here**_

_**From this dark, cold hotel room**_

_**And the emptiness that you fear**_

_**You are pulled from the wreckage**_

_**Of your silent reverie**_

_**You're in the arms of the angel**_

_**May you find some comfort here**_

He hugged her tighter, tears flowing down his face as he took in that she didn't reject him, didn't hate him...loved him even.

And she hugged back, her tears flowing that her dream may someday be real.

They whispered into the night simultaneously...

"You're my angel, never leave me."

_**You're in the arms of the angel**_

_**May you find some comfort here.**_

****

So how was it? Read and review, tell me your opinions!


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